Media coverage of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue has included feature articles and highlights in the many local, national and international news outlets. Below is some select coverage that highlights the synagogue.
Press inquiries may be directed to Communications Director Ryan Greiss at rgreiss@swfs.org or (212) 877-4050, ext. 267.
The Marker: How is the relationship with American Jews? Well, it’s complicated.
Dec 6, 2023
The war in Israel is also an opportunity to renew the close relationship that once existed between the state of Israel and American Jewry, writes Haim Handwerker. “We have an opportunity to restore the relationship — Israel is more united and world Jewry is more connected,” said our Rabbi Ammi Hirsch, who led a special event for some 800 New Yorkers to mourn the Oct. 7 attack and stand in solidarity with Israel. (In Hebrew)
eJewish Philanthropy: Reform rabbis on Amplify Israel Fellowship visit a ‘nation at war,’ bring experiences home
Dec 1, 2023
Unlike the dozens of missions and trips that have come to Israel since Oct. 7, the group of nine Reform rabbis who visited Israel from the United States last month weren’t there to show solidarity or to volunteer (though they did do both) but to learn. They were part of the Amplify Israel Fellowship, a newly launched initiative, led by Stephen Wise Free Synagogue’s Rabbis Ammiel Hirsch and Tracy Kaplowitz, that is meant to prepare the next generation of Reform rabbis to lead the movement, particularly on Zionist and Israel-related issues.
New York Magazine: The War and New York: Two Rabbis Who See Hatred in Anti-Zionism
Nov 20, 2023
At workplaces and in restaurants, on university campuses and in playgrounds, over Instagram and along lampposts, the war in Gaza has shifted something in the psyche of New York. There is a pervasive sense that everyone is hurting, aggrieved, and misunderstood and no longer pretending to share a common reality… Our Rabbi Ammi Hirsch and Sutton Place Synagogue’s Rabbi Rachel Ain sat down with New York Magazine’s Julia Edelstein to talk about the hatred in anti-Zionism. “It goes without saying it’s not antisemitic to criticize the Israeli government,” said Rabbi Hirsch. “What is problematic is to deny the right of Israel to exist. And all associated, adjacent, and related slogans to that effect are, in almost every case, antisemitic in either intention or in nature.”
NY Jewish Week: New York Jews, grappling with surging antisemitism, are bolstered by massive pro-Israel rally
Nov 14, 2023
Congregants lined up in the morning cold outside the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in the Upper West Side as the dawn broke Tuesday. Many of them held signs in support of Israel as well as supplies for the long day ahead as they boarded a large tour bus headed for Washington, D.C…
The Jerusalem Post: American Reform Jews’ support for Israel drops amid Gaza war
Nov 2, 2023
While support remains stronger among centrist and conservative Jews, the liberal sectors, particularly the Reform, show a clear trend toward disengagement. In June, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch told The Jerusalem Post “I fear that we are losing the soul of the Reform movement. But the process of distancing from Israel was gathering strength for many years before this government came into existence.” This was one of the many topics he set at the center of a conference he hosted with Reform rabbis, discussing inner challenges that the movement has been dealing with for a while. Hirsch stated that critiquing decision-makers is a sign of health and vitality in the Jewish community. However, turning “against Israel; to join our ideological opponents and political enemies in castigating Zionism, is a sign of Jewish illness.”
NY Jewish Week: Three NYC synagogues raise more than one-third of UJA-Federation of New York’s $105M Israel Emergency Fund
Oct 20, 2023
Thousands of New Yorkers are contributing to an aid effort for Israel that is widely considered unparalleled in recent times. The spike in giving follows a pattern set out by American Jews in 1967 and 1973, the last two times Israel faced invasions from neighboring territories. Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, a Reform congregation, has established its own humanitarian relief fund that has raised nearly $100,000 to support relief efforts in Israel.
amNY: ‘A sad, devastating week’: Upper West Side synagogue mourns hundreds killed in Israel terrorist attacks
Oct 12, 2023
Days after the devastating terrorist attacks in Israel, about 800 people gathered at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue on the Upper West Side Wednesday for a communal gathering in unwavering solidarity to comfort each other and demand justice. In his address to the congregation, SWFS Senior Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch said it was a “sad, devastating week for the Jewish people and all decent people who value life.” He said: “We saw in vivid reality what a pogrom looks like: mass mayhem and murder. Make no mistake, Israeli civilians were massacred because they were Jews.”
Telemundo: Reacciones a la guerra en nuestra area
Oct 12, 2023
Telemundo showcased a number of reactions to Israel’s war with Hamas including our synagogue’s solidarity gathering.
CBS New York: Almost 200 gather in Washington Square Park to mourn lives lost in Israel and Gaza
Oct 12, 2023
While a group of almost 200 people gathered in Washington Square Park to mourn the lives lost in Gaza and Israel and call for a de-escalation of tensions, many hundreds of Jews gathered at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue to pray for their brothers and sisters in Israel. “We’re deeply pained, deeply sorrowed, worried about not only the hostilities now, but the war to come,” said Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch.
NBC New York: NYC Holds Rally for Israel as War Intensifies
Oct 12, 2023
Hundreds gathered in solidarity with and support for Israel at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, NBC 4’s Chris Jose reports. A solemn service included a powerful message from Rabbi Ammi Hirsch. “The stakes are very high. If this war ends short of a Hamas defeat, it will invite more war,” Hirsch said.
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